Cover Reveal: Equus

Equus edited by Rhonda Parrish There’s always something magical about horses, isn’t there? Whether winged or at home in the water, mechanical or mythological, the equines that gallop through these pages span the fantasy spectrum. In one story a woman knits her way up to the stars and in another Loki's descendant grapples with bizarre transformations while fighting for their life. A woman races on a unique horse to save herself from servitude, while a man rides a chariot through the stars to reclaim his self-worth. From steampunk-inspired stories and tales that brush up against horror to straight-up fantasy, one theme connects them all: freedom. Featuring nineteen fantastic stories of equines both real and imagined by J.G. Formato, Diana Hurlburt, Tamsin Showbrook, M.L.D Curelas, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, VF LeSann, Dan Koboldt, J.J. Roth, Susan MacGregor, Pat Flewwelling, Angela Rega, Michael Leonberger, Sandra Wickham, Stephanie A. Cain, Cat McDonald, Andrew Bourelle, Chadwick Ginther, K.T. Ivanrest, and Jane Yolen. Equus is the newest installment of Rhonda Parrish’s “Magical Menageries” anthology series, preceded by Fae (2014), Corvidae (2015), Scarecrow(2015), and Sirens (2016). Equus will be released July 18, 2017, and is available now for pre-order now from Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, iTunes, Kobo, and World Weaver Press. Rhonda Parrish is driven by the desire to do All The Things. She was the founder and editor-in-chief of Niteblade Magazine, is an Assistant Editor at World Weaver Press, and is the editor of several anthologies including, most recently, Sirens and D is for Dinosaur. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been included or is forthcoming in dozens of publications including Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast, Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2012 & 2015), and Mythic Delerium. Her website, updated weekly, is at rhondaparrish.com. Praise for the Magical Menageries Anthology Series: “A delightfully refreshing collection that offers a totally different take on your usual fairy stories! I should have known that editor Parrish...would want to offer something quite unique. I found it difficult to stop reading as one story ended and another began – all fantastic work by gifted writers. Not for the faint of heart, by any means.” — Marge Simon, multiple Bram Stoker® winner “Corvidae evokes the majesty and mischief of corvid mythologies worldwide—and beyond our world—in a collection that is fresh and thoroughly enjoyable.” — Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger “With fifteen talented writers and a subject that is both evocative and memorable, Rhonda Parrish’s new anthology, Scarecrow, is no straw man. Like any good scarecrow, this anthology is truly outstanding in its field. Don’t be scared to pick this up and give it a read.” — Steve Vernon, author of Tatterdemon  "The call of SIRENS is quite powerful indeed. With a variety of stories, crafted with care, you will delight in the tales that the many authors weave throughout this fantastical anthology. It will lure you in and not let go." —Tara Platt, author Zartana Publication Date: July 18, 2017 • Anthology • Fantasy/Science Fiction $13.95 trade paperback, 325 pages  • $4.99 ebook ISBN-13: 978-0998702209 Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com Information: http://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p130/Equus.html

Release Announcement: The Falling of the Moon

“THE FALLING OF THE MOON” / A. E. DECKER

Alpena, MI (October 27, 2015) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced The Falling of the Moon, book one of the Moonfall Mayhem series by A. E. Decker, is available in trade paperback and ebook today, Tuesday, October 27, 2015.

If Ascot wants a Happy Ending, she’ll have to write it herself. In the gloomy mountains of Shadowvale, Ascot Abberdorf is expected to marry a lugubrious Count and settle down to a quiet life terrorizing the villagers. Instead, armed with a book of fairy tales, her faithful bat-winged cat, and whatever silverware she can pinch, Ascot heads east, to the mysterious Daylands, where her book promises she can find True Love and Happily Ever After, if she only follows her heart. Determined to win the hand of Prince Parvanel, Ascot storms the Kingdom of Albright. With the book’s guidance, she’s confident she’ll overcome any obstacles the imperious Queen Bettina Anna throws in her way, be they witches, evil stepmothers, or Big Bad Wolves.

Unfortunately, the book doesn’t cover reluctant princes, wolves who read Dostoyevsky instead of blowing down houses, or a guild of Godmothers whose motivations may not be as pure as three drops of blood on a sweep of snow. Most annoying of all is the captain of the guard who swears he’ll see the moon fall before she weds Prince Parvanel. There are stories . . . and then there are stories, and if her parade of shifty shenanigans continues, Ascot might have to rewrite her own tale lest she end most Unhappily Ever After! 

The Falling of the Moon is available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, OmniLit, WorldWeaverPress.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find The Falling of the Moon onGoodreads.

A. E. Decker hails from Pennsylvania. A former doll-maker and ESL tutor, she earned a master’s degree in history, where she developed a love of turning old stories upside-down to see what fell out of them. This led in turn to the writing of her YA novel, The Falling of the Moon. A graduate of Odyssey 2011, her short fiction has appeared in such venues as Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fireside Magazine, and in World Weaver Press’s own Specter Spectacular. Like all writers, she is owned by three cats. Come visit her, her cats, and her fur Daleks at wordsmeetworld.com.

World Weaver Press is an independently owned publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. We believe in great storytelling.

Publication Date: October 27, 2015 • Fantasy $14.95 trade paperback, 325 pages  • $6.99 ebook ISBN: 978-0692526019 Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com Information: http://www.worldweaverpress.com/falling-of-the-moon

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 Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.

Calling all Authors: Anthology Accepting Submissions

“SIRENS”

EDITED BY RHONDA PARRISH

OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS

Alpena, MI (August 18, 2015) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced the anthology Sirens, volume four of Rhonda Parrish’s Magical Menageries is open to submissions through November 15, 2015.

Praise for Rhonda Parrish’s Magical Menageries: “Rhonda Parrish has assembled a stellar collection that runs the gamut of Urban Fantasy to Weird Fiction. Easily the most consistently satisfying anthology I've read in years.” — K.L. Young, Executive Editor, Strange Aeons Magazine “With fifteen talented writers and a theme subject that is both evocative and memorable, Rhonda Parrish’s new anthology Scarecrow, is no straw man. Like any good scarecrow, this anthology is truly outstanding in its field. Don’t be scared to pick this up and give it a read.”  — Steve Vernon, author of Tatterdemon “Delightfully refreshing! I should have known that editor Parrish (who also edits the cutting edge horror zine, Niteblade) would want to offer something quite unique. I found it difficult to stop reading as one story ended and another began – all fantastic work by gifted writers. Not for the faint of heart, by any means.” — Marge Simon, multiple Bram Stoker® winner “What an amazing group of stories!” — Tangent “There’s no Disney-esque flutter and glitter to be found here — but there are chills and thrills aplenty.” — Mike Allen, author of Unseaming and editor of Clockwork Phoenix

Greek mythology describes the Sirens as being charismatic monsters; part bird, part woman, with enchanting voices whose songs either lure men to, or foretell, their deaths. In Roman mythology they play a similar role but shift their domain to the sea and take the form of mermaid-like creatures. Mythological Sirens such as these come with a capital ess; there are only a small number of them, they have names, Godly parents and occupations. Those Sirens are welcome within the pages of this anthology, but so are their lower-case sisters.

In Sirens, we will honor and share stories of historical Sirens, but we’ve equal room for modern re-imaginings and will be giving matching space to both avian and aquatic varieties.

Whether from the sea or sky, sirens are beautiful, dangerous and musical, and we’re open to works that exemplify as well as those which defy those expectations. Sirens will be a book full of tales that evoke a vast spectrum of emotions toward these maidens, empathy, disdain, sorrow, awe and anger. I want stories of wretched and cursed sirens who fight against the roles imposed upon them and tales of those who revel in them. I’m hoping for pieces re-telling or playing upon the traditional myths and others which create their own mythologies, and all the little niches in between.

For full submission guidelines and details, visit: http://www.worldweaverpress.com/submit-anthologies.html

Rhonda Parrish is a master procrastinator and nap connoisseur but despite that she somehow manages a full professional life. She has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of Niteblade Magazine for over five years now (which is like 25 years in internet time) and is the editor of the benefit anthology Metastasis, as well as the World Weaver Press anthologies Fae, Scarecrow, and Corvidae. In addition, Rhonda is a writer whose work has been included or is forthcoming in dozens of publications including Tesseracts 17: Speculating Canada from Coast to Coast and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. Her website, updated weekly, is at rhondaparrish.com.

World Weaver Press is an independently owned publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. We believe in great storytelling.

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Author Interviews: Scarecrow Anthology

Author Name: Holly Schofield

Website Address: https://hollyschofield.wordpress.com/

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holly.schofield.33  

Please share a short excerpt from your story:

I pictured the scene as a crow might see it: the scarecrow high-stepping under the moon, tails flapping, twisting like the hepcat he would become. NBC’s Palmolive Hour alive with sweet jazz, the hopeful scent of ripening tomatoes, and the moonlight playing among the carrot fronds. The scarecrow tap dancing madly to “California, Here I Come” as it blared out the window of the farmhouse he was never, ever invited into.

What is it about scarecrows that inspired you to write about them?

Scarecrows held no appeal for me at all, the dusty, frumpy old things. That is, until I read Rhonda's suggestion of a _steampunk_ scarecrow. Then I was off and running, like a mouse across a cornfield.

Author Name: Katherine Marzinsky

Social Media Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KMarzinsky

Please share a short excerpt from your story/stories:

“So,” Rosa began, her voice the temperature of the water on the bedside tray, “you're still wandering around with that stupid straw-man of yours?”

“Yes,” Vicente replied with equal coldness, studying the IV line running into his wrist.  “He's my hermano de tinta.  Why wouldn't I be?”

“I'm just a little surprised.”  Rosa crossed one leg over the other.  “I thought you'd have scrapped him and run off with some new, half-baked story by now.”  She met Vicente's eyes.  “After all, that's what you did with us, your real brother and sister.”

Vicente looked away.

“… I wasn’t ready to handle all that nonsense.”

“We’re nonsense?”  Rosa’s eyes widened.  “Your family is nonsense?  And just what do you think that damn scarecrow is?”

“I needed time for myself.”

“All you ever think about is yourself.”  Rosa uncrossed her legs and braced her palms against her thighs.  “Mamá and Papá didn’t raise us to act that way.  Do you know how ashamed they’d be if they knew how you abandoned us?  Abandoned your life and their memory?  Luis is almost a teenager now, and he doesn’t remember anything except Mamá’s coffin and you walking away.”

“Shut up.”  Vicente knotted his fists around the bed sheets and squeezed until his veins bulged like worms.  “You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.  You don’t know me; you never knew me.”

“Who does then?”

Feeling the pain rising from the IV needle on the back of his hand, Vicente let go of the sheets.  He closed his eyes for a moment, and then shrugged the best he could in his cocoon of linens, gauze, and plastic tubing.

“Strel’s the only one.  Not like you’d ever ask him though.”

“That’s bullshit, Vicente.  Your scarecrow can’t even talk.”

“Maybe you just don’t know how to listen.”  

 There’s a Japanese God who is represented as a scarecrow. It is all-knowing but cannot move. If you could know any one thing, what would it be?Would it be worth learning the answer if you were forever stuck in one place afterward?

I tend to be an extremely anxious person; I worry constantly about everything, and if there’s nothing to worry about, my brain will create something to worry about.  With that in mind, if I could know any one thing it would be the secret to perfect mental peace.  If I was forever stuck in one place afterward, then I’d be okay with that.  I would much rather be peaceful in one spot than a fearful and restless wanderer.

If you were a scarecrow, what would you look like? What would you be stuffed with?

For starters, I would be much thinner, and I would definitely want some kind of animal skull as a head.  I originally envisioned Strel, the scarecrow in my story, with a deer skull as his head, so I’ll go with that.  A ram skull might be pretty cool too, though.  As for my stuffing, I would love to be stuffed with crumpled up pages ripped from literature and art textbooks.  That way, I’d always know that I was beautiful on the inside, even if my outside got tangled in thorns and covered in bird droppings.  

Do you think you’d make a good scarecrow? Why?

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t make a good scarecrow.  I can’t stand the heat, and most crops are grown in the hotter months.  I could also see myself stressing about all kinds of potential catastrophes, like a plague of locusts, or a wild fire, or a devastating storm, or falling over and being unable to get back up… I’m sure the crows would learn pretty fast how to take advantage of my distraction. 

What is it about scarecrows that inspired you to write about them?

I think my affinity for scarecrows began after playing “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” when I was a kid.  The antagonist in that game is a creature called the Skull Kid, and although I don’t think he actually is a scarecrow, he certainly looks like one.  The combination of creepiness and vulnerability that his character, and scarecrows in general, represents has continued to fascinate me to this day.    

Author Name: Scott Burtness

Social Media Links:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SWBauthor

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SWBauthor

Other: www.goodreads.com/SWBauthor 

Please share a short excerpt from your story/stories:

Clots of mud and foliage stained with dark vital-fluid marked Scarecrow’s path from the airlock. Initiating a physical-assessment scan, it analyzed the extent of its injuries, categorizing them by degree of severity. Despite openly weeping vital fluid, none were terminal, nor were any severe enough to degrade its capabilities. Shifting its awareness, Scarecrow observed Jorry, the human wet-tech assigned as its Tin Man. The human’s posture, facial expressions and bio-signatures indicated that he also did not believe Scarecrow’s wounds to be severe. Applying the relevant pre-loaded decision matrix, it determined that updating the Dorothy took precedence, and established a communication link. 

“Scarecrow to mining site.” It formed the words slowly, hindered by facial muscles not well-shaped for Consortium Standard. “Mission accomplished.”

There’s a Japanese God who is represented as a scarecrow. It is all-knowing but cannot move. If you could know any one thing, what would it be?

How to eat hot pizza without burning the roof of my mouth.

Would it be worth learning the answer if you were forever stuck in one place afterward?

Only if I was stuck in a pizza joint.

If you were a scarecrow, what would you look like? What would you be stuffed with?

If I were a scarecrow, I’d look like Dean Koontz and be stuffed with Stephen King books.

Do you think you’d make a good scarecrow? Why?

I'd be a terrible scarecrow. One, I like crows. They're very clever and sound like Predator when they croak, which is awesome. Two, I have a short attention span. No way could I handle staring at a field for days on end. I'd totally lose focus and… Wait, what was the question? Oh, three, I think unicycles are way cooler than tandem bicycles.

What is it about scarecrows that inspired you to write about them?

All random humor aside, I think scarecrows are fascinating. They present a window into humanity's psyche. There’s a darkness in us, but also a desire to channel that darkness into a clear purpose. Scarecrows provide a focal point of our contradictory nature.

About the Book:
Hay-men, mommets, tattie bogles, kakashi, tao-tao—whether formed of straw or other materials, the tradition of scarecrows is pervasive in farming cultures around the world. The scarecrow serves as decoy, proxy, and effigy—human but not human. We create them in our image and ask them to protect our crops and by extension our very survival, but we refrain from giving them the things a creation might crave—souls, brains, free-will, love. In Scarecrow, fifteen authors of speculative fiction explore what such creatures might do to gain the things they need or, more dangerously, think they want. 

Within these pages, ancient enemies join together to destroy a mad mommet, a scarecrow who is a crow protects solar fields and stores long-lost family secrets, a woman falls in love with a scarecrow, and another becomes one. Encounter scarecrows made of straw, imagination, memory, and robotics while being spirited to Oz, mythological Japan, other planets, and a neighbor’s back garden. After experiencing this book, you’ll never look at a hay-man the same. 

Featuring all new work by Jane Yolen, Andrew Bud Adams, Laura Blackwood, Amanda Block, Scott Burtness, Virginia Carraway Stark, Amanda C. Davis, Megan Fennell, Kim Goldberg, Katherine Marzinsky, Craig Pay, Sara Puls, Holly Schofield, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.

Scarecrow on Amazon



Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases. 

Interview: Author's of Krampusnacht

“KRAMPUSNACHT: TWELVE NIGHTS OF KRAMPUS” EDITED BY KATE WOLFORD

Alpena, MI (November 11, 2014) – World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced the Christmas horror anthology Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, edited by Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine editor and publisher Kate Wolford, is available in trade paperback and ebook today, Tuesday, November 11, 2014.

Praise for Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus:

“A kaleidoscope of Krampus tales featuring enjoyable twists and turns. Imaginative and

entertaining.”

— Monte Beauchamp, Krampus: The Devil of Christmas

“Twelve enthralling tales that turn the lights out on Christmas, and dance with folklore in the

dark.”

— Kristina Wojtaszek, author of Opal

The joy and terror of the season. For bad children, a lump of coal from Santa is positively light punishment when Krampus is ready and waiting to beat them with a stick, wrap them in chains, and drag them down to hell--all with St. Nick's encouragement and approval. Krampusnacht holds within its pages twelve tales of Krampus triumphant, usurped, befriended, and much more. From evil children (and adults) who get their due, to those who pull one over on the ancient "Christmas Devil." From historic Europe, to the North Pole, to present day American suburbia, these all new stories embark on a revitalization of the Krampus tradition. Whether you choose to read Krampusnacht over twelve dark and scary nights or devour it in one nacht of joy and terror, these stories are sure to add chills and magic to any winter's reading.

With new stories from Cheresse Burke, Guy Burtenshaw, Jill Corddry, Elise Forier Edie, Patrick Evans, Scott Farrell, Caren Gussoff, Mark Mills, Jeff Provine, Colleen H. Robbins, Lissa Sloan, and Elizabeth Twist.

Krampusnacht is available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, WorldWeaverPress.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find Krampusnacht on Goodreads.

Kate Wolford is editor and publisher of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine at fairytalemagazine.com and editor of the book Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales To Fall In Love With. She teaches first-year college writing, incorporating fairy tales in her assignments whenever possible.

World Weaver Press is an independently owned publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. We believe in great storytelling.

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WORLD WEAVER PRESS

Publication Date: November 11 • Folklore/Fantasy/Horror Anthology $11.95 trade paperback, 205 pages • $6.99 ebook

ISBN: 978-0692314746

Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com

Information: www.worldweaverpress.com/krampusnacht.html

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Interview:

Ring, Little Bell, Ring by Caren Gussoff

1)      What about the Krampus myth inspired you?

I have always had ambivalence about the wholly-wholesome mythology of the holiday season. I mean, I loved getting gifts as a child, and now, as an adult, giving gifts is a great pleasure. But the season is a dark one and cold (in the northern hemisphere, at least), and families are complex – even when happy (and rarely, entirely so)—and holly, jolly Santa fails to address the whole experience. The elder-god-like, demonish Krampus makes a lot of intuitive sense.

2)      Why do you think Krampus is of increasing interest outside of Germany nowadays?

I suspect some of it is kitsch. Odd traditions and cultural quirks are pretty hip these days, and the idea of a horned beast who hunts naughty children in partnership with/opposition to the anodyne, toothless (metaphorically speaking) Santa has a modern, punk rock appeal.

3)      What was the most challenging aspect of writing your story?

In essence, I’ve written a victim—she, unknowingly, falls for my version of Krampus, who runs his Christmas-themed village like a dictator: a paradise manicured and landscaped by fear. It was difficult to write her so that she is tragic. I wanted her fall to be sympathetic, not pathetic.

Marching Krampus by Jill Corddry

1) What about the Krampus myth inspired you? 

I didn't know much about the Krampus myth, other than the name (and since part of my ancestry is German-Austrian, shame on me). I had a general mental image of what it looked like, and that it was kind of the counterpart to Santa Claus, but that was about it. Then I saw a creepy old photo online -- probably taken in the 30s or 40s -- and one word popped to mind: Krampus. It really stuck with me and eventually I had to write a story to go with it. Since I didn't know much about the Krampus, I dove into researching it, and though most of what I learned didn't make it into my story, it helped to have all those details at hand, even if it was just for myself.

2) Why do you think Krampus is of increasing interest outside of Germany nowadays?

We love scary stories. Reading them, telling them, writing them. And there is something deliciously creepy and satisfying about twisting the otherwise joyous Christmas holiday (or is that just me?). An Anti-Santie? Yes, please. I also love that we writers are expanding our horizons into other cultures as we search for inspiration. So many fascinating folk tales are just waiting to be explored.

3) What was the most challenging aspect of writing your story?

Creating the voices of the two young main characters was especially challenging for me since I usually write adult characters, and though Marching Krampus is decidedly not for children, the tone and actions of the children in the story had to be realistic. Given the age of the main character, it was also difficult to balance the darkness of the Krampus myth with the scary, yet not nightmare-inducing, tone of the story I wanted to write.

4) If there's something else you'd like to address, feel free.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and while that may be cliché, it was indeed a picture that inspired my story. Any writers who find themselves blocked or uninspired should consider looking at old photos, new photos, paintings, art anything to break the mold of the same-old, same-old of their writing routine. Don't know the story behind it? Perfect ... now you can give that picture a tale!